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Ava Olson, a Futures finalist from Tulare, California, has announced her verbal commitment to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Olson is entering her senior year at Tulare Union High School, and is expected to arrive in Las Vegas ahead of the 2023-2024 season.
I am over the moon to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I thank my family, friends, coaches, and everyone who has supported me on this journey. Go Rebels!
Outside of high school season, Olson trains and competes with the Tule Nation Tritons. At Tulare Union High, Olson has been a team captain during her freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons. She holds team records across nearly every high school event. Olson is very versatile, excelling across all strokes and distances, particularly freestyle, breaststroke, and IM.
Best Times SCY:
200 free – 1:51.92
500 free – 4:55.66
1000 free – 10:12.78
1650 free – 17:06.49
100 breast – 1:04.95
200 breast – 2:19.04
200 IM – 2:04.64
400 IM – 4:24.55
At the 2022 California (CIF) State Championships, Olson competed in the 200 IM and 500 freestyle. In the 200 IM, she placed 32nd with a 2:07.29, a little over two seconds off her best. She qualified for finals in the 500 free, finishing 12th in prelims and 15th overall in finals. She swam a 4:56.88, about a second away from her personal record.
In July, Olson competed at the Santa Clara Futures Championships. She swam the 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 1500 free, 200 IM, and 400 IM (all LCM). Her highest finish of the meet came in the 1500 freestyle, where she placed second in a new personal best time of 17:13.50. She dropped nearly 30 seconds from her previous best of 17:42.48.
Olson qualified for finals in both the 200 and 400 freestyles, and set new best times in the 400 free, 800 free, 1500 free, and 400 IM. In the 400 free, she finished 6th in 4:25.39, dropping a total of 1.37 seconds. In the 400 IM, she dropped .08 seconds to go 5:12.34. She finished fourth in the 800 free with a time of 9:05.68, dropping about 12 seconds.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a Division 1 mid-major program. The women’s team competes as part of the Mountain West Conference Championships. In 2022, they finished 3rd out of the 9 teams.
Heading into her senior year of high school, Olson already holds conference-scoring potential. In the 500 free, 1650 free, and 400 IM, her best times would have placed her 13th overall and third for UNLV.
Other UNLV commits from the class of 2023 include Poland’s Dominka Trentkiewicz and California’s Victoria Villarreal.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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